Silva Scolds Okami for Training with ‘Loser’ Sonnen

Middleweight champion Anderson
Silva is counting down the days until he defends his title
against the world-ranked Yushin Okami
and returns to his homeland at UFC
134 on Aug. 27 at the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Silva does not mince words when it comes to Okami and the training
partners with which he has aligned himself.

In an interview on Sunday with O Globo, Brazil’s second largest
newspaper, Siva scolded Okami for training with former challenger
Chael
Sonnen. The
Team Quest representative took four rounds from Silva at
UFC
117 in August and dominated him for vast portions of the fight
before succumbing to a fifth-round triangle choke. After the bout,
Sonnen tested positive for elevated levels of testosterone and had
his license revoked by the California State Athletic Commission. He
later ran afoul of the law, leading to a guilty plea on federal
money laundering charges.

“You have to find the best people to train with, and I think
[Okami] chose wrong,” Silva said. “I’d never align myself with a
loser, a loser in every sense. He didn’t win the fight [between us]
and got caught doping. You want to be a champion? Get with good
people, with winners. Moreover, Sonnen wasn’t a tough opponent for
me. I was injured with cracked ribs and fought five rounds. If I
hadn’t been injured, the fight would have been different.”

Although critical of Okami, Silva expects the Japanese brute to be
well-prepared when the two collide in their rematch. Okami was the
last man to defeat “The Spider,” albeit by disqualification. The
UFC middleweight champion already feels the pressure of having to
perform in front of the home fans, comparing it to the buildup
before an emotionally charged soccer match.

“Brazilians are involved in MMA; they’re talking about it,” Silva
said. “Many people call me to talk and to tell me they’ll be at my
fight. They want to see me live. It’s a different emotion. I’m
starting to feel like Brazil vs. Argentina, not the rivalry but the
pressure. I’m trained not to feel pressure, to approach it as just
one more fight. And I’ll have to train because [Okami] will be
well-trained, just like the Argentines when they come to play here
[in soccer].”